Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Walker's Wordless (Not Really) Wednesday

I want to know what goes on behind Walker's eyes.

What is happening in his brain that makes him scared of me? It's not just me - it's anybody. And he's not scared all the time - just some of the time. Right this minute, he's standing in front of my chair, wagging his tail, wanting so badly to be petted, but not being able to take the one step necessary to be within my reach. If I lean forward, he backs up.

Yesterday, he walked right up to me and let me pet him - he stayed with me until he heard Tim coming down the stairs. Then he took off. While he was making up his mind to step toward me, I was observing him from the corner of my eye. Looking directly at him usually causes him to back off. As I watched him at a sideways angle, it was as if he was conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Finally, he must have determined the benefit of being petted outweighed the cost of the discomfort of stepping forward. I could almost see him swallow hard and steel himself - kind of like I did when I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled, "I don't want to do this but I know I'll be glad I did." He stepped up and was rewarded for his bravery with very thorough face and neck rubs which he dearly loves.

He's made great progress since we adopted him. But we want him to be happy all the time - not anxious and uncomfortable most or even some of the time We're taking the advice of Never Say Never Greyhounds. We're participating in the Tufts University Cumming School of Veterinary Medicine VetFax program. We send them lots of in-depth information via e-mail and fax, as well as via video of Walker's behavior uploaded to YouTube.

"This is a veterinarian–to–veterinarian consultation service for animal behavior problems. You and your referring veterinarian provide a written account of the behavior problem via behavior history forms and mail or fax this report to Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic. Dr. Dodman and his assistant will fax or mail a three to six page consultation response to the referring veterinarian in 7 to 10 business days."

I've heard of extremely positive outcomes from the program - especially with fear and phobias. Maybe he doesn't need to take Prozac. Maybe he needs to take more. Maybe less. Maybe he needs to take something else. I don't know. But I do know, as I've said before, even if the advice from Tufts is a complete bust, resulting in no progress whatsoever, we want to try. I'll let you know what we find out . . .

I think the biggest help will be following Truly and Maggie and learning from them. Our second Greyhound was Hawk, and I often felt that he was sort of the canine version of autistic. I don't think he was abused in any way before we got him, but he would develop odd phobias to all kinds of things. We'd work to get over one thing, and then another would pop up. I do know that he was VERY sensitive to sound. He made associations to things over sounds that I would never have thought were significant, but they were to him. I think he did lead a happy life with us, but there were things that he was clearly not comfortable with. The oddest thing to me was that when we'd travel, his issues would disappear. He didn't like walking in our neighborhood because he was startled by gunshots once, but when we went away, he'd trot along with us like a show pony. I learned A LOT about patience from him, and he taught me a lot about other things, too. I hope that you find things that work for Walker! I don't know if you follow Romping and Rolling in the Rockies, but KB is facing a similar challenge to what you are with her Lab puppy.

Yes! His behavior reflects the behavior I have seen in autistic children. And like your Hawk, as scared as he is of people approaching him, if he's laying on my bed I can walk right up to him and he jumps happily toward me - like we're long lost pals. If he jumps off the bed and I'm standing in the exact same place - he runs away. I'll check out Rolling in the Rockies. Thanks for the tip!

My previous Grey Song was a very anxious girl. I found just letting her set the pace worked, but with that said she only started to open up to me after about a year. It then took about another year for her to look to me for assurance, instead of just panicking. The last year and a half I had her she would come to me just because she wanted to be with me......something I will never forget.

We suspect he was retired from the track at a very young age due to his spooky behavior. He can run like the wind but catching after the race must have been a nightmare. We really just don't know what happened to him before he arrived at SEGA. He may have been abused but most vets say idiopathic fear is related to brain chemistry.

I am interested in what they say. Our Nikki isn't fearful and we have no behavior problems, but she is very shy and submissive. We've had her for a year and a half and just now are starting to see little peeks of her fun-loving side. I hope they have helpful suggestions.

Hi Lynn, You know I am very interested to hear what Tufts has to say. I really do not think he was ever abused. It's like his brain has a short sometimes (which hopefully can be solved with the right medication). Anytime I have talked about Walker, I always used the analogy that his behavior reminded me very much of autism. And, yes, one time he'd come up for petting totally out of the blue (and I would be shocked) and other times he would act like I was going to kill him--even if I did everything exactly the same way. He is such a sweet boy. I honestly don't think he could have ever found a better home than with you, Tim, Sawyer, Truly and Maggie. He has already gained so much trust and confidence with you all. You all have been and continue to be AMAZING with him. I look forward to hearing your progress reports on him. Keep up te good work. You are an angel :)

After adopting my Tom who was a borderline spook over 9 years ago, I think time and patience are the best things. Not necessarily the easiest for us 2-leggers though. I look forward to seeing his progress.

It may not be anything other than genetics. I've heard breeders say that most of their dogs are fine, then they'll get a whole litter of spooks. It's not anything anyone has done, and there's often not a whole lot you can do about it, they're just twitchy and nervy by nature.

I hope you can make some progress with Walker. It sounds as if you already are doing really well!

I've had two "nervous Nellies". I believe that they have been nervous their whole lives. Helping them relax is a full time job. I had more success with relaxation if I did lots of training, because they seemed to have their mind on something different during the training, and it gave them more confidence.